"By 2010, it is projected that 5.1 million Americans will have Alzheimer's. This staggering number can be prevented if we increase funding for research and find a cure before it is too late," stated Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey, honorary chairman of the 2006 Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk. This Southeastern Massachusetts event, which has been held for the past 14 years, took place at Bristol Community College on September 17, 2006. Both three-mile and 1.5-mile walks were organized around the college pond starting at 10:00 a.m. to raise funds for the Massachusetts Association which last year the event raised over $1,120,000.  For more than two decades the Alzheimer’s Association has provided reliable information, created supportive services for families, increased resources for dementia research, and influenced changes in public policy.
 

(Top row, left) Candice Marks and Karen Rowley walk their Labradors Bear and Moose around the pond at Bristol Community College. (Top row, center) Sheila Harrington and Charlene Lolis from The Arbors in Taunton, part of the Partnership Team, check names on their sign-in sheet. (Top row, right) Shannon Burns gets some massage therapy before going on the walk from Salter School massage student Nicole Rioux. (Middle row, left)  Katlyne Shepard of Middleboro walks with Joel Harrington of Somerset. (Middle row, center) Four-year-old Nathan Ortiz, from New Bedford, walks with his father Jose. (Middle row, right) Employees of Creative Memories, a major sponsor who has contributed more than $3 million to the fight against Alzheimer's, pose in front of the pond. (Bottom row, left) As his father, in red, watches, 13-year-old Shawn Holland breaks a board held by Dan D'Onfro of the World Class Karate Academy in Dartmouth. (Bottom row, center) Event co-chair Nancy Medeiros poses with Southeastern Regional Alzheimer's Association Coordinator Judy Elste and co-chair Victoria Benevides in front of the crowd. (Bottom row, right) Members of the Bay State Gymnastics Academy gym team in Dartmouth, who travel all over the country, go through their moves in front of the assembled crowd.